NCsoft turning Japanese

By Curt Feldman, GameSpotPosted Jan 13, 2006 1:15 pm PT

MMO giant from Korea accelerates globalization push; builds out Japan operation, adds dev studio to create games for pan-Asian marketplace.

Tack Jin (TJ) Kim, the small-statured founder and CEO of Korean MMO giant NCsoft, is anything but diminutive when it comes to business. It took him only days after meeting game designer Richard Garriott to know the Ultima creator was the right person to head up NCsoft's US operation--and he hired Garriott less than 72 hours after the game designer's non-compete clause with Electronic Arts expired back in May of 2001.

Since founding NCsoft in 1997, the company has grown to be Korea's biggest and most profitable online game operation, with subsidiaries in the US and Europe, and joint ventures in Japan, China, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Today, the company said it was further solidifying its presence in Japan by establishing a wholly-owned subsidiary, to be called NCsoft Japan KK, that will focus on game development and localization.

NCsoft already has a Japan-based joint venture up and running--with local partner Softbank--which provides customer support and marketing for NCsoft games currently targeted to that market. That JV was started in 2001 and supports both Lineage and Lineage II. According to documents, the Japan operation contributes 20 percent of worldwide revenues to the Seoul-based company.

The new development studio will act as a base for the creation of "online casual games" and "MMO games" for the Japanese and pan-Asian gamer, according to the company. The move is reflective of Kim's "global infrastructure, local content" strategy he has espoused for years--a strategy he presented in a Game Developers Conference solo appearance in March 2003.

24 Comments

  • Alzig

    Posted Feb 26, 2006 3:42 am PT

    *i thought everyone in korea was playing world of warcraft?*

    Some died while playing Star craft, some died while playing diablo2, and more died while playing world of warcraft. =p

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jan 17, 2006 8:33 am PT

    i thought everyone in korea was playing world of warcraft?

  • MrBurns

    Posted Jan 16, 2006 11:40 am PT

    "turning japanese" Ha, thats great.

  • lstr

    Posted Jan 16, 2006 7:52 am PT

    "Another interesting thing will be how the Koreans react to this news. You’ve got to remember that the Koreans still haven’t fully forgiven the Japanese for WWII and what they did to Korea. Maybe that is why they made the office in Japan instead of just translating the games and selling them in Japan. Maybe they got their hands on some great talent, but that talent wouldn’t relocate to South Korea, only time will tell. While I’m not a huge fan of NCSoft MMO’s (I want more challenge and more depth than what they offer) I do with the company a great deal of success."

    Sorry, no. NCSoft made Japanese versions of Lineage and Lineage II. There are a ton of other Korean game companies that translate Korean games for the Japanese market. Kids don't care about the past when it comes to gaming. There's so much cross-influence between the two countries' gaming cultures it's impossible to tell who's influencing whom anymore. Your statement is like saying Square-Enix have offices in the US because we never fully forgave them for Pearl Harbor.

    "NCSoft is a publisher. They did not make GuildWars, Lineage, LineageII, or City of Heroes."

    NCSoft is a developer and a publisher. They developed Lineage I and II. I'm also pretty sure they own ArenaNet, the developers of Guild Wars.

    Those who are looking for something other than an MMO from NCSoft, wait till eXteel hits.

  • flop_part3

    Posted Jan 16, 2006 7:41 am PT

    NCSoft is a publisher. They did not make GuildWars, Lineage, LineageII, or City of Heroes.

  • Noijo

    Posted Jan 16, 2006 4:39 am PT

    Another interesting thing will be how the Koreans react to this news. You’ve got to remember that the Koreans still haven’t fully forgiven the Japanese for WWII and what they did to Korea. Maybe that is why they made the office in Japan instead of just translating the games and selling them in Japan. Maybe they got their hands on some great talent, but that talent wouldn’t relocate to South Korea, only time will tell.

    While I’m not a huge fan of NCSoft MMO’s (I want more challenge and more depth than what they offer) I do with the company a great deal of success.

  • Igiss

    Posted Jan 16, 2006 1:55 am PT

    More good MMORPGs! and please don't forget about Europe.

  • 247k

    Posted Jan 15, 2006 12:07 pm PT

    They're turning japanese huh!

  • Perth68

    Posted Jan 15, 2006 10:42 am PT

    this is just more evidence to me of Ncsoft having a bright future. Their strategy is pretty solid and they release quality games. Impressive to say the least.

  • snyper16

    Posted Jan 15, 2006 10:32 am PT

    Just one more step towards Japan's conquering of the world!!! Oh wait, that's China.

  • floydfire

    Posted Jan 15, 2006 8:39 am PT

    I am just hoping they will bring some games to consoles as I think the japanese are more likely to try a mmorpg on there terms instead of being forced to play on a pc

  • forever_blank

    Posted Jan 14, 2006 10:47 pm PT

    I think they are an amazing company, the way they just... well release such fantastic games.. I really think there is something special about them.

  • trick_man01

    Posted Jan 14, 2006 6:56 pm PT

    i've always liked NCsoft

  • chikahiro94

    Posted Jan 14, 2006 4:49 pm PT

    NCSoft is doing quite well, and I hope they enjoy a nice measure of success in Japan. I always heard that PC gaming wasn't that popular in Japan, though, so this could be interesting - they may have to break the barriers betwen Japanese leariness towards foreign games/genres, and the Japanese preference for consoles. But, if they can get in early and stay there successfully, then they've got a nice market that will probably only expand.

    Nice setup - make one game (the bulk/core of the work), then spread it out over all these territories with the appropriate translations/localizations (which shouldn't hold a candle to the dev costs). Pay off the core work at at an accelerated rate (one would hope), and reach profitability faster. Repeat for a different genre (COH/COV), or for a different audiance (how similar, yet different, are Guild Wars and Lineage II?). Their games might not have the spotlight like WoW does right now, but I'm sure the numbers are making them happy, and the diversity of games they offer makes me happy!

  • hittin

    Posted Jan 14, 2006 1:42 pm PT

    NCsoft are a good company..

  • fli_guy84

    Posted Jan 14, 2006 12:46 pm PT

    lineage, lineage II, city of heroes and last but not least: guild wars are among the games published by ncsoft. did you guys even know that ncsoft owns arenanet?

  • Qiron

    Posted Jan 14, 2006 8:30 am PT

    NCsoft is a very good company.

    It's important to look at the games they have published and look at how different they are - City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Auto Assault. The list is long.

  • reallaughingman

    Posted Jan 14, 2006 12:41 am PT

    there is a reason that they are making a japan company, they have great power to make and break a electronic company. If they didnt invest in that market completly it would be a huge mistake. Now if they only make shoters so i would give a f## about there games lol. I do not have a big intrest in morps, or whaterver the acrinime is. Anyway, best of luck.

  • Oni

    Posted Jan 13, 2006 6:49 pm PT

    That's pretty cool. MMO's are huge over there in Asia, so it makes sense they expand their market to Japan.

  • MetaMods

    Posted Jan 13, 2006 6:35 pm PT

    they do make good MMORPG, so expanding the company is good thinking

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